(Written in 2003 before I became the webmaster for Kiss Army Norway. Will be updated)

First of all I want to dedicate this story to the friends/Kiss fans I have known threw the years; Eivind Arntsen, André (what’s up with that é?) Storvoll, Thomas Løland, Tony Bisgaard, Kenneth Stern (where did he go?), Sammy, Ståle Redalen, Espen Mortensen, Christian Ellingsen, Håkon Glenne, Lars Kaasa and Kyrre Hysvær (maybe not a big fan, but a great and supporting friend anyway).

And last but not least, Arild Østby for selling those records in 1978.

1968-1977

I was born in November 1968. Before I started second grade in 1976, I inherited money from an old uncle of my mother, and I bought myself a stereo. That’s when my relationship with music began. The first music I bought was ABBA, Elton John and Elvis Presley cassettes. I had to wait until 1977 before I could afford a phono player. The first “encounter” I had with KISS was when I was in the USA during the summer of 1976. My cousin’s son was going to a concert to a show on the Destroyer tour (I believe it was the NJ show). And he showed me his T-shirt after the show. Continue reading →

(Written in 2003 before I became the webmaster for Kiss Army Norway. Will be updated)

1981-1984

Most of 1981 was spent collecting different Kiss stuff. My friend Thomas and I would more or less “kill” if we where able to get some new stuff. We spent hours trading posters with each other. We even tried some dirty tricks sometimes to get posters from younger kids without paying too much. My room was covered with Kiss posters, all the walls and the ceiling. My mother called it the “horror cabinet”. My parents where really cool about my “obsession”. But then again they have always been cool about most things.

We really where looking forward to the new Kiss record. And as the time crept slowly forward to the release date the anticipation grew. I went to the record store the day it came out. For almost 10 min I looked around the store to see if I could find the damn thing. The store owner asked; “What are you looking for?”. I told him I was looking for the new Kiss record. And he pointed on a pile of brown LP covers beside the counter. There was no way I had found “The Elder” without him pointing it out to me. I wasn’t to found of the cover. But the music was incredible. Continue reading →

(Written in 2003 before I became the webmaster for Kiss Army Norway. Will be updated)

1987-1990

I got much more interested in Kiss again at once when the “Exposed” video came out. The interviews we found quite embarrassing. But the old classic stuff was played over and over. I even remember looking forward to the new record with anticipation. And when “Crazy Nights” came out I thought it was a big step forward for Kiss, much better than Animalize and Asylum. It’s just too bad that the record hasn’t aged well at all. Today I can’t stand the way Roy Nevison produced the album (I don’t like Ozzy’s “The Ultimate Sin” either).

I even started buying some American KISS specials again. And got a couple of the old posters back from others.

In the spring of 1988 the rumors about a new KISS tour began. There were also a lot of rumors about “things not were the best in the KISS camp”. Gene and Paul were not in agreement of the bands direction. So I thought it was best to see them one more before the quit (I could not have been more wrong). Continue reading →

(Written in 2003 before I became the webmaster for Kiss Army Norway. Will be updated)

1996-1999

I got on the Internet in 1996. Suddenly fandom became much more interesting. A guy who works in the “record industry” told me about the reunion rumors as early as in January 1996. And I was following the progression with great interest. Those were the days when one could still post on the Usenet without going into a flame-war on every subject.

During that time I got myself a new girlfriend that was a “real bitch” about everything Kiss related. Great timing on the “dawn” of the reunion tour..

The Unplugged disc and video came out and it was the best stuff Kiss had made since the “classic” days in my opinion. About the same time Kiss showed themselves at the Grammy awards and the rumors were going wild. Later in the spring Kiss had the press conference at the Intrepid, and the reunion tour was official. Kiss also told about the plans to play Donington in the fall. So then I knew we had to go to England and see them at the famous “Monsters of Rock” site. Continue reading →

(Written in 2003 before I became the webmaster for Kiss Army Norway. Will be updated)

2000 and into the future…

The “Kiss world” since 1999 has been strange. In one way it has been almost kind of schizophrenic. One day Kiss has done/released something cool, and the day after they have done/released something that has made me embarrassed to be a Kiss fan.

The year started with Kiss telling the whole world about the farewell tour. On the interviews Ace seems to be “in another world”. The word was that he had got the flue (sure). I was actually pretty sad because it was all supposed to come to an end. The tour started and all reports seemed like the tour was much better than the Psycho Circus tour. The stage was much cooler any way..

I was dying to go to the States and see them once before they ended it all. But my economy would not allow it. Håkon went with a couple of other people from Kiss Army Norway, and had a really great time. Both on the Kiss concert and “Kiss sightseeing” in New York. I had told him to buy me Kisstory II and the “Farewell Tour” tour book. When he come back he had only bought the tour book. He had looked at Kisstory II and thought the book was so incredible bad for the price that he did not want to spend my money on it. Anyway I ordered it later, and he was right, it wasn’t worth the money I paid for it. Continue reading →